Oil climbs on Mideast escalation fears, US rate cut expectations
Updates with latest prices at 0615 GMT
By Emily Chow
SINGAPORE, Aug 26 (Reuters) -Oil prices extended gains on Monday on fears a major spillover in fighting from the Gaza conflict into the Middle East could disrupt regional oil supplies, while approaching U.S. interest rate cuts lifted the global economic and fuel demand outlook.
Brent crude futures LCOc1 climbed 56 cents, or 0.7%, to $79.58 a barrel by 0615 GMT, while U.S. crude futures CLc1 were at $75.40 a barrel, up 57 cents, or 0.75%.
In one of the biggest clashes in more than 10 months of border warfare, Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel on Sunday, as Israel's military said it struck Lebanon with around 100 jets to thwart a larger attack.
The clash raises fears the Gaza conflict risks morphing into a regional conflagration that would draw in Hezbollah's backer Iran and Israel's main ally the United States.
"Geopolitical risk factors will likely influence the oil market significantly," said Kelvin Wong, a senior market analyst at OANDA in Singapore.
"Increased odds of a tit-for-tat retaliation attack by Hezbollah and Iran in response to Israel's pre-emptive strike on Hezbollah sites in Southern Lebanon may keep WTI crude supported."
Both oil benchmarks gained more than 2% on Friday after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell endorsed the start of interest rate cuts.
"The prospect of easing monetary policy boosted sentiment across the commodity complex," ANZ analysts said in a note, adding it expects the Fed will implement a progressive series of rate cuts.
Still, oil prices were down last week as a poor outlook for major economies weighed on fuel demand, the bank said.
Oil traders also remain cautious over the actions of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, or OPEC+, which has plans to raise output later this year, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.
"The cartel had recently trimmed its outlook for global oil demand, citing concerns over weak demand in top oil importer China," Sachdeva said.
"Current robust U.S. demand and refilling of SPR reserve look as the only support for oil prices against the risk of excess OPEC supply," she said, referring to the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
The U.S. Energy Department said on Friday it bought nearly 2.5 million barrels of oil to help replenish the SPR.
The number of operating U.S. oil rigs was unchanged at 483 last week, Baker Hughes said in its weekly report. RIG/U
Reporting by Florence Tan and Emily Chow; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Christian Schmollinger and Tom Hogue
Aloqador aktivlar
Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
